Medway: Retiring Kennedy to stay on until July 25

MEDWAY - On what was supposed to be her last day on the job, Town Administrator Suzanne Kennedy has agreed to postpone her departure for a few more weeks.

Selectmen asked Kennedy to stay on as newly hired Michael Boynton, currently Walpole's town administrator, will not be available to start in Medway until July 28.

Kennedy announced last year that she would retire at the end of the fiscal year, June 30. Instead, her retirement will begin on Friday, July 25.

Her contract was officially extended Monday at a 7:30 a.m. Board of Selectmen's meeting.

According to the contract, Kennedy will make $11,400 for the period, which she said is about $1,200 more than she would have earned under her previous contract during that timeframe.

She said the increase is consistent with the $156,000 contract Boynton signed last month.

Selectman John Foresto said retaining Kennedy for the four weeks is essential to ensuring a smooth transition among town administrators.

He added that Kennedy "has been excellent in town."

"We want coverage over the four weeks with somebody of that stature in the position," said Foresto. "The handoff should be nice and clean."

Kennedy said, "I think it’s almost a moral obligation to make sure that when you leave an organization, you leave it in as best shape as possible. I’d hate for anything to go radically wrong and not have anybody here to be of some service."

In other news, selectmen wrote off about $160,477 in receivables from the ambulance enterprise account, which have been on the books for nearly a decade and were deemed uncollectible.

Selectmen also began discussing an indirect cost agreement for the town’s enterprise funds, which would charge the accounts for time the administrative staff helps run those departments. The issue will be discussed again at a future meeting.

Zachary Comeau can be reached at 508-634-7556 and zcomeau@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZComeau_MDN.